When C.C. Chapman noticed a blemish in his high-definition television's reception during the NBA playoffs recently, he blasted a quick gripe about Comcast into the online ether, using the social network Twitter.
Minutes later, a Twitter user named ComcastCares responded, and within 24 hours, a technician was at Chapman's house in Milford, Mass. to fix the problem.
"I was so floored," said Chapman, who runs a digital marketing agency and advises companies to do what he experienced with Comcast -- listen to what customers are saying about them online and respond. "When it actually happened to me, it blew me away," he said. "Now I have a case study."
Chapman's experience is one example of the ways customer service is changing in an age when a single disgruntled consumer with a broadband connection can ignite a crisis. It also shows the potential of the Internet to turn miffed customers into fans in a more organic way than an advertising campaign. Chapman, for example, made a podcast about his visit from Comcast.
"We're in a world where one person, by their actions, can make a company look bad, and it can get echoed and amplified over and over again," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research and coauthor of "Groundswell," a book about business and social technologies.
"The power has shifted, ((so)) that big companies now have to be worried about one individual with a microphone called a blog."
Comcast, like other companies, has learned the power of the individual firsthand.
Two years ago, a YouTube video of a technician who fell asleep on a customer's couch while on hold with Comcast became a hit -- the video has been viewed 1.2 million times and triggered more than 750 comments.
Last summer, a 75-year-old Virginia woman frustrated with the company attracted national attention when she stormed into a...

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